King Charles Reportedly Has No Plans To 'Turn His Back' On Brother Prince Andrew

Family ties are stronger than any scandal, and King Charles III seemingly proves that with his controversial younger brother, Prince Andrew. 

It is no news that the Duke Of York has faced public scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In 2021, the prince was sued by a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was sexually assaulted multiple times by the Prince.

Following the scandal, the Prince was stripped of his royal and military honors and evicted from the royal home by King Charles.  More than a year after the scandal, Charles reportedly wants his brother back into the royal fold. 

In a surprising turn of events, King Charles reportedly changed his mind as he welcomed his brother home. Per reports, Andrew was seen on Sunday driving along with Prince William and Kate Middleton in Balmoral. 

An insider close to the royal family explained to that “Andrew won’t ever have the same ceremonial role within the family; he is no longer and never will be a working royal. That is clear.” However, the source told The Daily Beast, “But he is part of the family. He is the king’s brother. He has not been found guilty of any crime, and I think it’s fair to say that the king is making it clear that he won’t turn his back on his brother.”

As for Prince Williams driving with Prince Andrew, British biographer Andrew Lownie explained to the news outlet that the scene was “interesting” as the pair never had a good relationship. He added, “The family have been using the Prince and Princess of Wales to get them out of trouble a lot lately, and once again, they are doing the heavy lifting here, fixing problems not of their creation.”

He continued, “This was clearly a very important event, and William’s had to put aside his objections... to agree to be in a car with him when they knew it was going to be filmed is an extraordinary development.”

The writer further stated that the royal family must have decided on a different PR plan to bring the disgraced royal back, as before the outing, they had been trying to stay away from him.

Earlier in the year, the former Royal Navy member had discussions with the monarch about getting back his HRH title. A source claimed that there is a fat chance that the restoration would happen and that the controversial royal intends to use the title upon the King’s permission. 

“It is more likely that he will just start using it again in a low-key way to test the waters — should he get the King’s consent,” the informant said.

Days before Andrew's public sighting with William and Kate, the Duke of York was reportedly working to regain his taxpayer-funded security from the Royal Family’s Home Office.  Andrew’s royal protection was taken after he gave up his HRH title because of the scandal. However, the Duke wants the taxpayer-funded £3 million [$3.7 million] bodyguard escort returned. 

For the Duke’s claim, he appears to have the support of the former Home Secretary, Dame Priti Patel. She emailed Charles's principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, appealing for a review of the duke's protection. However, the emails to Alderton were leaked, prompting Patel to speak and apologize to the king. 

She said, “It is disappointing that this correspondence has been leaked into the public domain, and I apologize to His Majesty for the embarrassment and difficulties the publishing of this correspondence has caused.”

A Royal expert, Ingrid Seward, commented about the leaked email, highlighting that King Charles would be “deeply embarrassed” by the incident. According to Seward, the King has stayed away from getting involved in Andrew’s issue, and Patel “should have known he has no power over these decisions.”

Seward further slammed Patel for her “meddling,” branding her decision “deeply unwise and deeply unfair on The King.” The Royal expert asked a vital question: whether the public should even pay millions for security for “a man who rarely leaves his home.”